It's crunch time. In the last week before the Nov. 5 elections, political organizations on Grounds are hard at work.
Tomorrow night, both the College Republicans and the University Democrats will take part in the Crystal Ball election predictions of Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato.
During the forum, presidents of the two organizations will give brief opening remarks followed by debates by members on the upcoming elections.
In addition to the debate, the University Democrats will send 22 members to South Dakota to take part in the hotly contested Senate race between Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson and Republican challenger John Thune, who currently serves in the House of Representatives.
Most University Democrats will stay behind and help Meredith Richards' campaign to defeat Rep. Virgil Goode, who serves the 5th District, by handing out literature and phone banking every day until the general election.
"Our main goal this week is to educate as many people as possible about the candidates and issues important to this election," University Democrats President Ian Amelkin said.
The University Democrats also will lead a "get out and vote" effort to ensure voters will know when and where to vote. Members also will run an Election Day shuttle to the Ivy Road voting precinct for students in the Alderman Road residence area who are registered to vote in Charlottesville.
"We registered 2,035 voters this year; we are hoping to get our new voters to the polls," Amelkin said.
The College Republicans also have been hard at work in the final pre-election days. College Republicans President Ben Beliles described the objective of his activities as "hoping to keep a majority in the House of Representatives." Belilies added that "we are sure that will happen. We are also hoping to recapture the Senate and we are also confident we have a chance there."
Twenty College Republicans will travel to southwest Virginia for the second consecutive week to campaign for former Lieutenant Governor candidate Jay Katzen's bid for the 9th District's congressional seat.
Beliles encourages students to "get out there and vote," adding "we're hoping to turn out the vote for Goode in Charlottesville."
Nathan Royster, vice chairman for events for the College Republicans, said the group is making several different efforts to support its candidates.
"We are approaching [the campaign] at both grass roots as well as ideologically," Royster said.
The College Republicans have conducted literature drops for Goode and also are putting up signs all over Charlottesville, Beliles said. Much like their Democratic counterparts, they also will phone bank to voters.
Systems Engineering Prof. Jim Lark, who serves as the faculty advisor to the University Libertarians, said they are not as active this year as in the past because there are not any local Libertarian candidates.
"This year, unlike last year when we had a candidate for governor and lieutenant governor, we don't have anyone locally to support," he said.
Regardless of the results, the activities of both political organizations indicate that, in the words of Amelkin, "this will be a good election season."
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